High School Horrors
by shadowYoukai17
Summary: CBFLCL Xover. What happens when Spike and Naota are going to the same high school, Spike has to be Naota's student mentor, Haruko has a crush on Spike and won't leave him alone, and Ed. (Don't need to say much there, huh?) Rating for later chapters.
1. Welcome to High School

Okay, be nice, readers. This is my first ever try at a Furi Kuri/Cowboy Bebop Crossover. Ages have been adjusted (a lot) to fit the story (kind of an obvious fact, huh?). Alright then, lets get started!  
  
  
  
It was raining that day. Naota was running as fast as he could towards his school, when he tripped over a leg and fell into a puddle. He stood up, dripping wet and looked at the owner of the outstretched leg. There was a young man sitting at the bench in front of his high school, smoking. The young man looked at the boy. "Hey, sorry about that, kid." he grunted. "You okay." Naota was silent. He nodded, and continued towards the building, only, not as fast this time. The older boy blew out a cloud of smoke, sighed, and watched the boy trudge his way towards the building. He took a long drag on his cigarette, tossed it into the puddle that Naota fell in not too long ago, and slowly walked towards it as well.  
  
Chapter 1 - Welcome to High School  
  
She rode her motor scooter to her first day of high school, mostly because her brother wasn't ready (as early as she was) to give her a ride. She didn't enjoy arguing with him; he almost always won every one, so, she decided against it. As she whizzed down the road she enjoyed the sights of a new area, following the directions that her brother gave her. The school itself was in small town, about twenty or so miles away from her house. She was enjoying the sights so much, that she ended up getting lost. "Where is Ed?" the girl wondered. She looked at the miserable, crumpled piece of paper and sighed heavily. "Edward's lost." Ed turned around and looked hopefully at the road, as if to see a car driving down it. She didn't see a car, but a bright yellow Vespa. Ed leapt up and down waving her arms to get the driver's attention. "Hey! HEY!" she shouted. The driver stopped and looked at her. "What?" she asked. The driver, a girl not much older than Ed, had pink-ish colored hair and a wild, infectious smirk. She had her backpack on, and what looked like the top of a guitar sticking out of it. "What is it?" she asked again. "Ed is lost." Ed said calmly. "Can you tell Ed how to get to the Akira Maru high school." The older girl nodded. "Sure. Where is he?" Ed pointed at herself. "Ed is Ed." she said calmly. "Do you know where the school is?" The older girl nodded. "Sure. Just follow me." "What is your name?" Ed asked. "Haruko." the older girl said calmly.  
  
Naota sat down in the back row of the assembly room and scanned. He felt like he was a little boy, some of these guys were enormous compared to him. He did see some familiar faces, though. Ninamori, his 'friend' from grade school, was flirting with some guy that was either a junior or senior, Haruko, his insane, Vespa riding neighbor talking with some red- headed girl that was about the same age as he was, and, that guy from earlier. Naota looked at him for a little while; he was pretty tall, about 6'2, in a leather jacket and blue jeans, and had wild, green hair. The boy noticed Naota staring, and glared harshly at him. He quickly averted his eyes away from the boy and looked towards the enormous bald spot on the back of the principal's head.  
  
"....Hey, isn't Ed a boys' name?" Haruko asked the red-headed girl. Ed smiled madly and ran towards the back of the assembly room. Headed towards Spike, she saw a depressed-looking kid, sulking. She shoved his face at his and grinned widely. He jumped backwards. "Who are you!!?" he said, freaked out. "Ed is Ed!" Ed laughed. "Who are YOU?" "Naota Nandaba." the boy said flatly. "What kind of girl's name is 'Ed' anyway? You are a girl, right?" Ed nodded. "Edward is a girl." "...And, would you stop referring to yourself in the third person, already?" Naota mumbled. Ed stood up. "Bye-bye!" Ed ran off, making airplane noises, towards Spike.  
  
Spike turned around warily and saw Ed charging full speed towards him. "Oh great." Spike thought. "Just great." The day wasn't proving to be too great so far. He was already stuck having to be the student mentor to some annoying little freshman and broke up with his current girlfriend in the same day. Ed stopped right in front of him. "Hey, Ed." he said. Ed stuck out one hand. "Spike-person owes Edward five dollars for lunch, today." Spike sighed, and reluctantly handed the girl a five. At a smell of his breath Ed let out a horrified gasp. "Spike-person was smoking again!" Spike ignored her comment. "Ed, do you know someone in your grade named Naota Nandaba?" Spike asked. Ed nodded, and pointed to the boy sulking in the corner of the assembly room. Spike sighed again. This definitely wasn't turning out to be a great day for him at all. He was honestly rethinking this whole student mentor thing. As if reading his mind, Ed said "Spike- person has to mentor Naota because mom-lady will be mad at Spike-person if he doesn't get to col-le-ge." she said, in a kind of sing-songy tone. "And to get to college, Spike-person has to mentor Naota to cover his badness." He knew she was right, but he, once again, ignored the comment. "How it go?" he asked. "Did you make it here in one piece?" Ed nodded. "Haruko- sempai helped me." Spike looked at her confused. "Don't know him." "Haruko- sempai is a girl. She is a sophomore." He thought about the name. Then he remembered. "God! That was that freshman who was stalking me all of last year!" "Edward!" called a girl. Both Ed and Spike turned around and looked. It was Haruko. A squeak of horror escaped from Spike's throat. "SPIKEY!!! SPIKE!" Haruko jumped on top of Spike and started to rub her face on his. Spike shuddered. "So, Spike, when are we gonna get married?" Haruko said, tracing little circles on his chest. Spike shoved her off. "We're not!" he shouted. "I don't even LIKE you!" He tried to walk away, but Haruko hugged onto his arm. Ed giggled. Spike tried to shake her off, but she was practically attached. "Please let go of me, Haruko!" Ed was laughing hysterically. Spike looked at her. "Edward, you could HELP me get her off! Don't just laugh!"  
  
Naota chanced a second glance at the older boy's direction. What he saw was something that filled him with embarrassment and horror. Haruko was clamped onto his arm while he and Ed tried desperately to get her off.  
  
"Do you need some help?" Spike turned towards the direction of the voice. It was the boy who was staring at him earlier. Naota Nandaba, Ed said his name was. "Can you get her off?" he asked calmly. Naota shrugged his shoulders. Spike continued to stare harshly at him. "No? Then no, I don't." he muttered. Naota put his fingers in between Haruko and Spike's arm and pried the two apart. He looked at them both. "Your welcome." he said, and walked back to his seat. Spike watched the little boy shuffled absent-mindedly back to his seat, and then looked at his 'problem'. "No stalking this year." he said simply to Haruko. "You leave me alone, alright." Haruko looked at him angelically. "Whatever you want, Spikey." Haruko said sweetly. "C'mon Edward."  
  
Well, how was it? Good? Bad? Reviews are wanted and Flames are accepted. I can use them to warm up my chilly, little room. 


	2. Operation: I Like Spike

I own nothing, okay! (Not even the title of this chapter! It [the title] belongs to microfiber shoelaces a.k.a Eris. There I said it, so don't sue!)  
  
Chapter 2 - Operation: I Like Spike  
  
About two weeks had past since the first day of school. Naota watched in horror as Ed stood did a handstand on the desk in their Math class. "EDWARD! GET DOWN!" the teacher shouted. Ed grinned. "Okay." She flipped into her seat and grinned at him. She was assigned to the seat right next to him, much to his dismay. "Ed's gonna call you Naota-kun from now on."(A/N: -kun is a suffix in Japanese that represents friendly familiarity. Most commonly used with boys.) "My name is Naota, okay. Just Naota, not Naota-kun." "Okay, Naota-kun." Ed smiled mischievously. Naota groaned and sank further down into his seat. The first class was kind of boring. They both sat staring blankly at the board while the teacher droned on about the radius of a circle. Naota's curiosity finally took the best of him. He leaned over to Ed. "Hey Ed, how do you know my student mentor?" "You mean Spike-person?" He nodded. "Spike-person is Edward's brother." He looked slightly surprised by her answer. "Is he always so mean?" he asked. She shook her head. "Spike-person is grumpy a lot. He's been like that ever since Jule-Jule went away." "Who's Jule-Jule?" Naota sat up. This was starting to get slightly interesting. "Spike-person's ex-girlfriend." Ed whispered. "The girl he was with before Carey. That's why they broke up." He figured that Carey was Spike's most recent ex. "Why?" he asked. She leaned closer to him, so no one else could hear their conversation. "Spike- person loved Jule-Jule, and she was her friend. But that's all Edward can say. Ed promised not to tell Spike-person's 'personal life'. Does Naota-kun promise not to tell anyone what Ed just told him?" He nodded, and then sank back into his chair to wait patiently for next bell.  
  
"You're late, Spike." said a young man. Spike nodded. "Yeah, sorry. I had to get out while no one was looking. It's my lunch now." The man glared up at him. He was sitting behind a large dumpster, so not to be noticed. "Do you think that I care?" he growled. "I told you to be here at 12:30, not 1:00. Learn how to tell time." His insult stung like bees, but Spike's face didn't show it. Spike just smirked slightly. "That's why I'm in school, Vicious." Vicious' gaze remained unchanged. "Don't play with me, Spike. Where is my money?" Spike looked away nervously. Vicious only got louder and more, well, vicious. "I said, WHERE IS MY MONEY!" Spike shifted uncomfortably. "I-I don't have it." he muttered. "WHAT!" Vicious yelled. "Give me some more time. I swear I'll get it. All of it." Spike said, tone unchanged. "I've given you enough time as is." Vicious said. "I know you have, but I don't have it yet. I haven't been making any money, and I'm trying to be legit......I just need a little bit more time. Just a week more Vicious, come on, one week!" "Fine. I'll give you a week longer, but you'll have to give me every penny you have. You know what'll happen if you don't, correct." Spike nodded. "Thank you." he said, and walked away.  
  
Ed sat miserably at the lunch table with her new friends Naota, Haruko, and some of her friends, staring hungrily at their lunches. Haruko messed with her with a mouth-full of food. "Wah ih-ih ooh eh a wunf? (Why didn't you get a lunch?) Arnf ooh ungi? (Aren't you hungry?)" Ed nodded. "Ed is very hungry, but Spike-person didn't give Ed her lunch money, so Edward can't eat." Haruko looked at her in shock. "You and Spikey are related?" she practically screamed, spraying bits of hamburger and fries all over Ed's face. Ed got a napkin and wiped her face clean, then nodded. "Spike-person is Edward's brother." Haruko jumped up, practically ecstatic and grabbed Ed by the shoulder and started shaking her wildly from across the table. "Spill! Is he nice at home? Does he have a hot body? What's his shoe size?" Ed looked at her woozily. "Ed is getting dizzy..." Haruko was oblivious to everything Ed was saying. She continued her harsh interrogation. "....Does he have a girlfriend now? I heard he sleeps with his blankie....does he? WELL! TELL ME! TELL ME!" Naota decided to pipe up "Hey, uh, Haruko...." She glared at him ferociously, and he could've sworn that she snarled and bared her teeth (which were frighteningly pointy) "Not now Takkun! I have business to attend to! Well Ed! Answer me!" Haruko let go of the girl's shoulders and she collapsed across the table. The table began to creak loudly. "Holy CRAP!" one of the girl's shouted. "It's unstable!" Naota yelled. CRAK! The two legs closest that were closest to Ed fell snapped off and flipped cartwheels in the air before they landed on a cheerleader's head, knocking her unconscious. The table flipped over, pinning Ed under it and sending everyone's lunch flying. One girl's slice of pizza landed splat Ninamori's head. Naota's pudding beamed a wrestler straight on his forehead. Another girl's egg salad sandwich flew open, splattering some with egg bits and two others with slimy bread slices. The cafeteria went dead silent. Then out of the blue, came the call that everyone was waiting for. "FOOD FIGHT!!!!"  
  
It was like a war zone when Spike returned to the cafeteria; pudding cups flying like hand grenades, bowls of steaming hot soup scalding people, like little, edible flamethrowers. Spike staggered backwards after a stale loaf of bread was cracked over his head. He clutched the injured spot. "GAAAH! WHAT THE HELL!" It was some freshman bastard. "Uh....sorry, dude. I didn't know it was stale!" Spike knocked him over the head. "The hell you didn't."  
  
"You're late for class, Spike." said a very familiar, cold voice. He turned around. It was just Faye. Spike gave an audible sigh of relief. "It's just you." he murmured. Faye didn't pay his comment much mind. "Did you do your half of the project?" Spike nodded. "Yeah. Why?" "Because you never turn your homework in," she snapped back. "You know, this is your senior year, Spike! You've got to get better grades than this if you're planning to go to college." Spike slid into his seat. "God, Faye, you sound like my mother. Give it a rest already....."  
  
"ARE you going to college? Well? I don't want to see you begging on the street in four years...."  
  
"Shut UP already, would you! Sorry to disappoint you, but I DO have plans for the rest of my life, and they have NOTHING to do with being homeless!"  
  
Faye sighed. She was tired of them arguing like this.  
  
"You're changing, Spike. You're changing for the worse. We USED to be best friends, you know. Can you remember that far back?" she said sarcastically.  
  
"Yeah, we were friends, until you became an annoying bitch. Now, would you please shut up?" he said loudly.  
  
"I am NOT an annoying bitch! I'm trying to look out for you, but I can see that you don't really WANT my help..."  
  
"NOW you're getting it!"  
  
It was the end of the school day, and Haruko and Naota were on the hunt for Spike pictures. Naota, obviously not there by choice, was Haruko's way to a Polaroid picture of all of Spike, and 'his Spike-y goodness'. "Why do you have me doing this, Haruko!!?" he whispered frantically into his walkie-talkie. "Aw, Takkun, don't you want to do your best friend in the whole wide world a big favor a big favor?" Haruko said childishly. "No." he responded, monotone-ly. "Okay then, you're doing it because I'm holding your history project hostage." she said. "Now, commence with Operation: I Like Spike!" "Couldn't she have thought up a more original title than that." he murmured to himself. As he snuck quietly up to the boy's shower he could've sworn he heard Haruko humming 'Hey Ya' in the background. That's when he saw Spike. He quickly whipped out the camera and took three quick pictures. As the flash momentarily blinded Spike, Naota attempted to make his getaway. "Wha...What the...GET BACK HERE!!" Spike stammered. Then, at the worst ever possible time, Naota slipped on the wet shower floor, and was having serious issues getting back up. Finally he gave up and began to scramble frantically towards the exit. "Takkun! What is the holdup?" Haruko whispered through the walkie-talkie. He heard the thumping and splashing of Spike's feet on the wet floor getting closer and closer. He was so close to the door now that he could almost touch it. All of a sudden, poor Naota was being pulled into the air by his ankle. Luckily for him, Spike had on a towel. Naota was terrified. "Uhhh....hey Spike...." 


	3. Picture Perfect

Don't legally own any anime, so don't bother me.  
  
Chapter 3 - Picture Perfect  
  
Naota winced in pain as he felt Spike's hand clasping tighter and tighter around his scrawny little ankle. The next thing he knew, he was flat on his back on the floor. "Oww," he groaned, rubbing his bruised ankle. "What the HELL is the matter with you, Nandaba?" Naota sat up and stared at him nervously. "Well!!?" Spike shouted louder. "Nothing." Naota mumbled. Spike was getting more and more frustrated and angry at Naota's silence. "Then why the hell are you taking NAKED pictures of me, you dumb ass!" Naota still was silent. Spike's frustration took the better of him. "You don't want to talk?!!" he yelled. "Well maybe I can beat a confession out of you, huh?" He grabbed the little boy up by his shirt collar and punched him in the stomach. He dropped him, and as Naota was stumbling on his feet and holding his stomach, Spike punched him in the face. Naota fell on his butt and covered his bleeding nose with one hand. "It was Haruko." the boy said calmly. "She has my History project and threatened to burn it if I didn't take your picture. Sorry." Spike sighed loudly. "How did I know?" he muttered. Spike turned around and began to leave. "You don't move." he said. Naota started to search his pockets for the pictures that he took. "Where are they?" he muttered. Spike looked at him quizzically, and then smirked slightly. "Lookin' for these?" he snickered, and pulled three pictures out of his inside pocket. Naota ran up and tried to snatch the pictures out of his hand, but Spike just lifted his arm higher at every attempt he made "Nice try....ooo, too slow...try jumping a little higher next time." Spike teased. "I'm a magician, you know." "No, you're just a good thief." Naota said. "Don't push your luck, Nandaba. I think I'll keep these photos with me, after all." he said. He began to dig in his gym locker, pulling out his clothes. "Dammit, where's my jacket? Ah, never mind, there it is." Spike threw on his clothes and started to leave. As soon as he opened the door Haruko tackled him down. "It's Spike!" she yelled. "Oh, Spike I haven't talked to you for a long long time." Spike shoved her off of him. "Will you PLEASE leave me alone!" He began to leave towards the parking lot, dragging along Haruko, who was now attached to his waist. Unnoticed to everyone except Naota, a piece of paper fluttered to the ground. It was a picture He hurried up and picked it up, hoping that it was one of the ones he took. "Maybe I can get my homework back." he thought to himself. He looked at the picture, but it wasn't what he expected. Instead of Spike's bare butt he saw a slightly younger version of him smiling cheerfully, hugging a girl about Naota's age. She had long, curly blonde hair and was wearing a brown coat and a white t-shirt (he couldn't see anything below the waist because that's were the picture stopped). He looked at the back of the picture and saw a sloppily written date and names. "This picture was taken two years ago." he thought to himself. "The name sounds kind of familiar too...Julia... maybe that's the girl Ed was telling me about...."  
  
"EDWARD, I THINK I BROKE THE COMPUTER!!!" a woman screamed up the steps. "WHAT!" Ed screamed. She barreled down the steps at full speed, until she reached the fifth or so step. Then she pushed off from the banister and jumped over the lady's head, making a perfect ten point landing at the bottom of the steps. "Ed, you've got to stop doing that! You're going to hurt yourself!" Ed wasn't paying her much mind. "Mom-lady broke the computer!!?" She ran over to the computer and typed some stuff into it. "Fixed!" she grinned. Her mother smiled. "Were is Spike, anyway?" she asked Ed. "He should be home by now." As if by magic, Spike walked inside. He saw his mother and sister and absentmindedly waved to them. Their mother sighed. "Spike, dinner will be ready at seven, okay." Spike nodded and went up the stairs to his room.  
  
"Wow, you really got the crap beaten out of you, huh." Naota's father laughed. "Wah-" "You know what I think you need....you need to bulk up, that's what you need. You can beat up that bully with a nice punch in the gut!" He hopped up and started thrashing around like a madman. "Hai! Hai! Hai! Hai-yah!" Naota just groaned. "I'll be in my room."  
  
Sorry it's so short! ~shadow 


	4. Baseballs Hurt Like Hell

Me no own  
  
~ = time passed  
  
* = conscious  
  
Chapter 4 – Baseballs hurt like HELL!  
  
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"Oh! I like this one!" a girl, about 12, said loudly. "Lets get this one!!!" She was pointing feverishly at the cage where a Welsh Corgi puppy was sleeping. She looked pleadingly at her brother. "Please!" she begged. The older boy, who was about 16, looked slightly frustrated. "Lets get a dog that's.......you know, bigger. His girlfriend glared at him. "They said it was supposed to be HER dog, so get the one that she wants." "Fine." The boy muttered. Not too long later the younger girl was holding the cage and walking outside the pet shop. The other girl gave her boyfriend a kiss on the cheek. "I'll see you at school." she said. "See you." the boy said monotonely.  
  
SCREEEEEEEEEEEECH!  
  
"Oh my god! Little girl! Little girl!" someone screamed. The boy turned around. It was a crash and someone was thrown about ten feet away from the car. The boy's mouth gaped open wide. "No, no, no......." he kept saying over and over again. It was her. He ran over to the girl, but it was too late; she was dead. Hot tears streamed down the boy's face. His sister ran over to him. "No, no, no........" He hugged the body close to him, and put his face in her dingy, now dirty and bloody blonde hair. "No, no, no........" The tears streamed out harder and faster. They mingled with the dirt and blood on her. "Julia........."  
  
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Spike jumped up in a cold sweat. He looked at the clock. "4:32" he sighed. "Just a nightmare. Damn Science, it always puts me to sleep."  
  
"Nandaba!" an older boy named Hayashi called. "You're up." Naota grabbed his favorite aluminum bat from off the ground and walked up to the plate. The pitcher, a well-built boy about 17, took his stance, and pitched the ball. It was the perfect pitch for Naota, right above the plate, but he froze. "STUH-RIKE ONE!" One kid, younger than him, named Angelo, started yelling. "Dammit Nandaba, that was the PERFECT pitch!" Naota groaned audibly. Hayashi tried to be understanding. "You'll hit the next one though, right Nandaba?" Naota nodded and took his stance. The pitcher tossed another easy ball at him and he once again froze. "STUH-RIKE TWO!" His entire team moaned and screamed at him. Angelo was louder than all the rest. He walked up to Naota. "Why are you even on this team, Nandaba! We all know you suck, so why do you even bother." Naota glared at the boy and Angelo stepped back until he was safe within the rest of the team. "Where's Haruko?" he yelled, hyping up the crowd. "I betcha SHE coulda sent those balls flying!" "ENOUGH, Angelo!" Hayashi yelled at the boy. "Try it once more, Nandaba." He walked up to the pitcher. "Hey Inari, give him an easier one." "Aw c'mon Hayashi! They can't GET any easier than that!" Inari said. Hayashi just sighed and walked away. Inari pitched the ball and it went flying. Naota swung at it, but the ball was too high. Naota's head cracked backwards and his body soon followed. It seemed almost as if time had froze; Naota's body making a high arc in the air before he flipped head first on the ground. "Oh my god! Nandaba!" Hayashi, Inari, and the majority of the rest of the team ran over to the unconscious boy. Angelo was in fits of laughter. "Ahahahahahahahaha! Nandaba's HEAD makes a better bat than his bat does!" Hayashi threw the ball that knock Naota out at Angelo. "Shut UP, Angelo! He could really be hurt here!" Angelo looked slightly confused. "Really?" A girl named Ozuwa snapped at him. "YES he could." She then turned to Hayashi. "I'll go get some ice, Ren." Hayashi nodded and Ozuwa ran off.  
  
"Hey! Hey! He's waking up!" Ozuwa shouted. The entire team ran over to Naota. "I am SO sorry, Nandaba! Are you okay?" Inari said. Ozuwa looked at Naota, then at Inari. "He's still really out of it, Inari. I doubt he heard a word that you said." Suddenly Naota came into full awareness. "AAAAAAAAAARRRRRRGH! MY HEAD!" he screamed, running around in circles, clutching the enormous bump formed on his already bruised face. He fought back the stinging tears of pain as he ran around. "Uh....." the entire team said. "Uh, I guess he's okay, then." Hayashi muttered.  
  
~  
  
"NAOTA-KUN! WHAT HAPPENED!" Ed screamed the next day. "Nothing." he said calmly. "Your brother beat me up and I got hit in the head by a speeding baseball." He stuck his hands in his jacket pockets and felt around. "What's this?" he thought as he ran his fingers over a piece of paper. "Oh right. That was the picture." He pulled the picture out and held it in front of Ed. "Hey, Ed, what's up with this picture....." Ed yanked the picture out of his hand before he could even finish. "That's Spike-person's favorite picture! Naota-kun is in a lot of trouble when Spike-person finds out it's lost and Naota-kun has it!" "Wha-what!?!" "It's Spike-person and Jule-Jule on the day she died...........eep, Ed shouldn't have said that!" "Died?" "It's all Spike-person has left to remember Jule-Jule after she died. Naota-kun is in a LOT of trouble, now!" Naota sank low into his seat with worry. "Oh GREAT!" he thought.  
  
~  
  
Later that day Naota was sitting watching the Boy's Varsity track meet. Runner #39 was Spike. He watched the older boy run by in a cloud of brown dust. "He's incredibly fast." Naota thought. He shuddered to think of what Spike would do to him if he found out that he had his picture of him and his dead girlfriend. 'I'll just tell him I found it.' he thought and nodded to himself. It was the truth. Spike dropped it and he picked. *quit the bull, Nandaba.* 'It's the truth!' he thought. *like hell it is. you could have chased after him!* 'SHADDUP! SHADDUP! SHADDUP AND GET OUT OF MY HEAD!!!'  
  
He shuffled nervously over to where Spike was sitting on the bench and tapped him on the shoulder. Spike looked up. "Yo." "Hey, Spike........uh, I found this the other day..........uh, I think its yours......." he stammered and stuffed the picture in Spike's hand. Spike unfolded the picture and looked at it, astonished. "H-how.........whu-where..........uh, thanks." 


	5. Edward At Bat

Do I really have to say it again? Oh all right....I OWN NO ANIME! I do own Hayashi, Ozuwa, Inari, and Angelo though.......  
  
Chapter 5 - Edward At Bat  
  
Naota left the track meet after that. He didn't walk too far from the track when a man in his mid-twenties approached him. "Excuse me." the man said. Naota turned around. "I've been informed that a Mr. Spike Spiegel was at this meet. Do you know where he is?" Naota looked nervous. "Are you a cop?" he asked bluntly. The man looked slightly surprised by his bluntness. "Yeah, I am. I'm Detective Black and I'm investigating Mr. Spiegel for some minor offenses that include stealing cigarettes from a convenience store and such. I saw you talking with a kid that looked like his description, so I thought I'd ask you." "I don't know a Spike Spiegel." he said calmly and walked away. The officer just sighed and walked towards Spike. He plopped down on the bench next to him. "Back already, Nandaba?" Spike said snidely, without even looking. He looked at the officer through the corner of his eye. "Oh. Yo. Can I help you?" "I'm just gonna be blunt, Spiegel." he whispered. "What do you know about a man named Vicious?" Though surprised by his question, Spike's face became stony and showed no emotions whatsoever. "Who wants to know?" he asked. The man flashed his badge briefly.  
  
"Detective Jet Black. I heard that you are his right hand man."  
  
"Was his right hand man. I'm legit now, officer. I did community service and stuff, so I'm through. You don't have anything on me anymore."  
  
"From what I hear you're still in business with him, Mr. Spiegel."  
  
"Call me Spike."  
  
"Fine, Spike."  
  
"Look, I have to give go."  
  
"We're not done here, Spike."  
  
"You may not be, but I am."  
  
"Well, I'll definitely be talking with you again, then."  
  
"Whatever."  
  
Spike put on his sneakers, picked up his books and cleats, and began to leave. Jet looked at his retreating figure. "I hope I'm wrong about this, Spike." "Don't worry, you are." Spike said with a laugh. Jet couldn't help but chuckle at the boy. 'How could he stay so upbeat about this' he wondered, and walked off.  
  
Hayashi ran up to Naota. "Hey Nandaba! How's that bump doing?" he yelled. "Fine." Naota grunted. "Doesn't look great.....but, anyway, where's Haruko?" Hayashi said. "At the field, most likely." Naota said. Hayashi looked at him. "That's where you're heading too, right?"  
  
~  
  
"How's it going, horn-boy?" Angelo joked referring to the enormous bump on Naota's head. "You horn-y for some boo-tay?" he laughed, waving his butt in his face. The others started to laugh. Naota couldn't resist the temptation. He kicked Angelo hard in his big, waving ass. Angelo yelped in pain and grabbed his sore rear. Everyone just laughed louder, including Naota. Angelo's face became bright red and he swung at Naota, delivering a hard punch in the older boy's jaw. Naota grabbed onto his jaw and glared at the boy. "Whatsa matter, baby. Do you need to cwy?" Naota, who was just a little more than pissed at this point and sick of the younger boy's verbal abuse, tackled Angelo and started to pummel him with punches. "GHAAAAAA! I GIVE! I GIVE! UNCLE!!!" screamed the bloody faced Angelo. Naota got up, and kicked Angelo hard in the ribs. "Whatsa matter, baby. Do you need to cwy?" Naota taunted, repeating the exact words that the other boy had used moments before. "Hey Nandaba, I think the baby wants his ba-ba!" an older girl shouted. "Or his binky!" a kid about 12 yelled out. Angelo gathered up his injured pride and hobbled over to Ozuwa. "Ozuwa-san, why didn't you stop him?" Angelo whimpered. Ozuwa just laughed. Angelo turned even brighter red and hobbled over to Hayashi. "Hayashi-san, why didn't you help me?" Hayashi looked at him harshly. "Ha! If I were to help anyone, it would've been Nandaba, not you, but it looked like he could handle himself just fine, so I watched." Angelo looked at his superior in shock and anger. "Fine then! Lets just see how well you'll do WITHOUT me!" Angelo snarled to Hayashi. "Whatever." The older boy said. "See ya when I see ya!" Angelo stomped angrily off the field, back towards his house.  
  
Not too long after Angelo's less then mournful departure, the team heard loud (not to mention awful) singing. It turned out to be Haruko and Ed riding her Vespa towards the field. Haruko began to sing even louder.  
  
"Oh, I've got a lov-el-y box of co-co-nuts!"  
  
"Deedely dee dee oooooooooo!"  
  
"There they are, just standing in a ROOOOOOOOOW!!!!"  
  
"Dum dum dum dum daaaaaaaaaa!"  
  
"Big ones!"  
  
"Small ones!"  
  
"Some as big as your head!"  
  
"Ed doesn't know the rest, Haruko-sempaii."  
  
"Neither do I. Oh well."  
  
(everybody on the field sweat drops) Ed ran over to Naota. "Naota-kun!" Ed said happily and hugged him. "Naota-kun, Edward wants to join Naota-kun's team" Naota looked slightly surprised by her request. "Y-you do!!?" he stammered. "Yup." Ed said simply. "Fine then." Naota said. "Go bother Ren Hayashi about it. He's over there talking to Haruko."  
  
"Balance yah! Balance yah! Baaaa-lance yah!" Ed sing-songed as she walked over to Hayashi and Haruko, balancing a bat on her head. She came up to Hayashi and stood stiffly in front of him. He was definitely over a foot taller than her; she had to crane her neck to see him. Hayashi was stammering stupidly about something to Haruko, who wasn't listening. She was wrapped up in some strange, sick fantasy about Spike (take that however you may want to). The clatter of the bat hitting the cement is what brought Ed to the older boy's attention. "Yo!" Hayashi said waving Ed. "Are you Ren- Ren?" Ed asked. Hayashi looked confused "Huh?" he said. "Are you Ren-Ren Hayashi-san?" Ed repeated. "Ren.....Ren....Hay....ashi....san....." he stammered. Ed nodded. "Ed wants to join baseball team. Can Ed?" "Uh sure." Hayashi said, very, very confused. "Who is he?" Haruko pointed at the redhead. "She is." Ed beamed and pointed two proud fingers at herself. "Ed is Ed is Ed is Ed is Ed is......ED!" she giggled. Hayashi couldn't help his face twitching at the strange Ed. She was rocking back and forth on her bare feet, holding the bat, with a freakishly adorable, pleading look to her face. Hayashi caved in. 'I guess we do need a new player......' he sighed to himself. "Uh, sure, you can join, I guess. Welcome to the team Ed." "YAY!" Ed squealed. She tackled Hayashi to the ground in an enormous bear-hug. "Thank you Ren-Ren!"  
  
"Now first up to bat, our newest team member, Radical Edward!" Hayashi announced at the team, who was, by now finding more entertaining stuff to do then waiting around for their love-struck team captain. 'Radical Edward.....' Naota thought to himself. Ed had a crazed look to her eyes as she clenched the bat. "Inari, throw her an easy one to start." Hayashi told the pitcher. "Sure thing, chief." Inari said. "Get ready, girlie, cause here comes the PITCH!" Inari threw a wild fastball towards Ed. She didn't budge an inch. CRAAAK! She swung the bat as hard as she could, and it made the ball go soaring over the fence. "Whoa!" everyone gaped. "Ha-Haruko, she as good as you!" a boy gasped. Ed grinned. "Heh heh heh! Edward is good!" she giggled. "Inari, you moron, I said give her an easy one!" Hayashi whispered. "Uh, sorry." Inari said. "But what does it matter? She hit a damn homer; the kid is great!" "It didn't matter, dammit, you just didn't listen." Hayashi growled. Inari looked at Hayashi, very annoyed. "You know, you're startin ta take yer leadaship role a bit too far, chief." "Whatever." Hayashi said and walked off. He went over to Ed and gave her a slap on the back. "Nice one, Edward." Ed looked at Hayashi proudly. "Is Ed Radical Edward or Edward now." She asked. "Both." Hayashi said. "When we're in a game, you're Radical Edward, and any other time you're just Edward. Okay" Edward smiled even more. "Okay-kay yay!"  
  
"Ha-ru-ko! Ha-ru-ko! Ha-ru-ko!" the team chanted, all except Naota, that is. Haruko grinned like a mad person. "LETS GO!" she shouted. "THIS ONE'S FOR YOU, TAKKUN!!!!!!!!!" Ozuwa was on the mound this time. "Ready, Haruko." she asked. Haruko nodded. "Let it fly, Umeko!" she laughed. Yet another loud crack was heard as the bat made a connection with the ball. It whizzed through the air and conked Naota over the head. He collapsed to the ground. "Yes!" Haruko laughed. "Bullseye!"  
  
Well, that's it! Working on chappie number six right now! I'd really appreciate your reviews! Thanks in advance! ~ shadow 


	6. Enter: Faye Valentine

This chapter is gonna be short, okay. ~ shadow  
  
Chapter 6 – Enter: Faye Valentine  
  
He was sprawled out across the hood of his beat up looking, green car, staring at the orange-tinted sky. He swung his feet youthfully back and forth. He watched as black storm clouds started to blot out the sun. 'Oh great.' he sighed.  
  
`Plip`  
  
'Julia, I screwed up big this time.........'  
  
`Plip`  
  
'...........this time they have an investigation..........'  
  
`Plip`  
  
'........and what about the money, how am I going to get so much..........'  
  
`Plip`  
  
'........and college.......'  
  
`Plip`  
  
'........its just too much.........'  
  
Faye was running to her bus stop. She decided to cut through parking lot; it cut off an entire block from her run. She saw a strange sight in the lot, though. Spike was lying across the hood of his car, and he wasn't moving. 'Oh my god!' she thought and ran over to his car. "SPIKE!" she screamed, and started to shake the boy by his shoulders. He started at her blankly or like a confused child would. He was in his own little world. Faye sighed, partly out of relief and partly out of frustration. "Come on, you idiot." she said. "Let's get you dried off, at least." Spike nodded absent-mindedly as she put his arm over shoulder and they began to walk off.  
  
A now dripping wet Faye stood at the door of Spike's home. The still zombie-like Spike stood slumped over, arm still on Faye's shoulder for support. "Oh my baby!" Spike's mom screamed when she saw him. "Faye, what happened to him?" Faye sighed heavily. "I found him in the parking lot like that." she stated. "He was staring at the rain from the hood of his car." The mother nodded. She turned to Spike. "Go sit on the couch, okay. I'll get you some soup." Spike shuffled to the couch and sat down. She then turned to Faye. "I'll be right back." "Alright." Faye said. She went to the couch and sat down next to Spike. "I was a bit of an asshole the other day, huh?" Spike chuckled. Faye jumped up in surprise. "Y-your o-okay?" she stammered. Spike nodded and Faye turned bright red in anger. "Y-you LUNKHEAD!" she screamed, knocking him hard over his rain soaked head. "WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR!" he screamed. Faye glared at him. "For having us all worried for nothing, that's what!" Spike returned the glare. "Well, if it helps your ego any, the last thing that I remember was watching the sunset on the hood of my car, then I just kind of, zoned out, I guess." Faye sat back down next to him. "Before you zoned out, you were thinking about Julia, weren't you?" Spike couldn't help but show the surprise that rose in his face. "None of your business, Faye." he said bluntly. "Spike I'm not doing this to be annoying or nosy," Faye began. "I'm just worried about you, we all are. You've been a wreck ever since Julia died, plus you're dealing with Vicious, plus you're not doing great in school. Spike, you're a mess, and you know it." Then, just so she wouldn't be sounding sappy she added: "So you better shape up, you moron, cuz the rest of us will be living great lives while you're stuck in an asylum somewhere. God knows I won't be feeling sorry for you by then!" Spike smiled slightly. "Thanks for the concern, I think." Spike's mom barged in from the kitchen. "SOUP'S UP!" she yelled, holding up a tray with three bowls of steamy, hot tomato soup. "I heard you two talking, so I'm guessing Spike is back to normal." Spike nodded. "Yeah, mom, I'm back."  
  
Told you it was short(er). I hoped you liked it. I made a few tiny adjustments, and I realized it was confusing. Don't worry, it'll make sense later! ~shadow 


	7. Happy Saturday! Ed's Exciting Adveture!

Special Author's Note: Lemme do a quick explanation of the timeline so far (mostly because I'm out of it and was starting to confuse myself). The first chapter took place on their first day of school. The second through to the first half of chapter four takes place during the Monday of the third week. Finally, the last half of four through to chapter six takes place during the next day (Tuesday, for the idiots among us). Okay, now that that's outta the way, I want to thank everyone who reviewed this story, helped me, and gave me good advice. Thanks a lot to microfiber shoelaces especially, as well as Fade into Darkness, maddiemaia, and Hinoki! THANKS-CHA! ~ shadow  
  
Disclaimer – I neither own, have owned, nor will own any of these shows.  
  
"Edward, how long are you gonna be like that?" Spike asked. Ed was doing a handstand on one hand. "Forever and ever and ever and ever and........" "Uh," Spike groaned. "Never mind." About 10 minutes later Ed collapsed under her own weight. "Owwwwwieeee!" she whimpered.  
  
Chapter 7 – Happy Saturday! Ed's Exciting Adventure  
  
^_^  
  
"Ed, where are you going?" her mother asked. Ed was flopped upside down on her bed, throwing different stuff into her backpack. After she thought it was full enough she flung it over her back and grabbed a pair of rollerblades. "Edward is going to have an adventure!" she laughed, running out the door. Her dog, Ein, followed her out. "Ein can't go with Ed, okay. Ed will be back in a few hours, okay?" Ein whimpered and walked back inside the house meanwhile, Ed was strapping on her rollerblades. "Time to go!" she yelled to the sky and took off zooming down the street.  
  
"Now where does Edward want to go?" she asked herself. "Ed will go to the park first." She glided down the sidewalk for a while, and then veered left towards the park. "Hey kid! Watch where you're going!" some old guy screamed at the speeding Ed. "SORRY!" she giggled. The guy turned around and looked at her. "Hey! HEY KID! Watch out!" "Huh?" Ed turned to the direction she was skating. She was headed straight towards a tree. "Aaaieeeeeee!" she screamed and did a sharp right turn. Ed sighed in relief. Her gaze then turned to the swings. "YES!" she cheered. "One is FREE!" Ed charged full speed towards them, but as soon as she was a couple of feet away, a kid about a year younger than her dove on the last remaining swing. Ed looked astonished and kind of angry. The boy just laughed and stuck out his tongue. "Heh, heh, heh! Sucks for you!" he laughed. Ed sulked. "You're a meanie! Why did you do that! You saw Edward headed towards it!" The boy looked at her confused. "Who's Edward?" he asked. Ed scowled. "Ed is." she said simply. "Who are you, you mean swing stealer?" "You're Ed?" he said, surprised. "Yes, Ed is Ed!" she snapped back. The boy looked surprised. ".......Eep! Sorry! You shoulda just said so!" "Ed did, but meanie didn't answer Ed!" The boy sighed. "People call me Angelo, okay!" he said. "Jeez you're annoying! Now would you get lost and leave me alone!" Ed stuck out her tongue and sped off to continue her 'adventure'.  
  
About a half hour later Ed was worn out. She sighed loudly and took off her backpack. She unzipped the bag, looking for her lunch, and out jumped Ein. "EIN!" she yelled, half surprised, half angry. "How'd you get in here? Ed told Ein not to come!" Ein whimpered. "It's too far from home to send Ein back, so........Ed says Ein can come now." Ein barked happily and licked Ed's face. Ed started to scrounge through her backpack. She groaned in anguish. "Ed forgot to bring FOOD!"  
  
Naota was sitting at the baseball field trying to write his Literature essay:  
  
'The meaning of A Poetics for Bullies in my opinion is to not always trust what you see or hear on the outside, because on the inside there could be a totally different person. For example, Push says on the first page of the story how he wishes that he were different, that he was loved. He was hurting, aching with jealousy on the inside, and he vented all of that in a relatively negative way, by bullying other kids. He wasn't the traditional, big stupid bully either. Push followed his morals, unusual for a bully, seeing that most don't have great morals to begin with...........'  
  
"Dammit! This thing sucks!" he yelled to the sky, crumpling up the scribbled on piece of paper and through it in the increasing pile. "I'll never finish!" "Hi, hi, hi Naota-kun!" said a very familiar, energetic voice. "Edward." he grunted as a response. "How'd Naota-kun know it was Ed?" she asked. Naota never took his eyes from his essay. "Because," he began, "because, I know you're voice." Ed smiled and sat next to him. "What is Naota-kun doing? Homework?" Ein plopped down between the two, stretched and yawned, and curled up in the grass. Naota nodded. "Yeah. Its my Lit work." Ed scooted closer. "Ed's good at Lit! Does Naota-kun need help?"  
  
LATER THAT DAY:  
  
Spike sneered as he saw the grimy Ed trudge inside the house. "So, how was your 'adventure'?" Ed just grinned like a madman. "Spike-person has to come with Edward next time, okay?" 


	8. Naota's First Kiss

YES! I'm up to chapter 8!!!!!! Yay! Thanks once again to mirofiber shoelaces for the help!  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own FLCL or Cowboy Bebop...and the song Haruko sings is from Will Smith's 'Born Ta Reign'. (The sad part is, I know the entire song)  
  
Chapter 8 – Naota's First Kiss  
  
Haruko walked down the corridor of her school, early Monday morning. She was rocking her head in tune with the music blasting from her headphones. "Well! I was a born ta reign! Hell yeah! My name ta be etched in stone; my destiny is pre-or-dained! I'm tryin ta live righteous! Fighting for life, wasting truth on da ruthless and doubt on da right! Made a lot of new friends, got a lot of new ends...da dee da, da dee dum, da dee da, da dee dum!" Meanwhile, Ed was chasing her down the hall, Spike right on her tail. (Wait...SPIKE!!!) "SEMPAI!!!!" she yelled, dragging Spike by the arm down the hall. "Haruko-sempai! Wait!" Spike's eyes just bugged out. He dove behind the lockers, yanking Ed with him. She slammed against the wall, and Spike covered her mouth with his hand. "What the HELL do you think you're doing!!!" he hissed dangerously. Ed chomped down on his hand. "YEEEE- OOOOOOOOWWW!!!!" he screamed. Haruko's head turned to the direction of the scream. "That sounded like Spike-y!" she said excitedly and ran towards the sound. "...shit!" Spike squeaked. He ran as fast as he could towards the boys' bathroom. Haruko's eyes lit up. "SPIKE-Y!!!" She motored after him. "Wait! Wait! Spike-y! Come back!" Spike looked behind him, legs moving as fast as humanly possible. "STAY THE HELL AWAY FROM ME, YOU PHSYCOTIC LITTLE STALKER!!!" he yelled and dashed into the boy's bathroom. Unknown to him, Haruko followed right behind him, but froze at the door. Spike looked out of the corner of his eye and shifted in horror. "WHAT THE FUCK!!!!!!!!" he screamed, in extreme rage (not to mention shock). "Uh...uh...SMILE!" she said, taking out her Polaroid camera. The bright flash stunned Spike. He stumbled backwards and fell into the hot air hand dryer. The hot air whooshed out into Spike's face, sending him stumbling more. He crashed into the wall, flailing his arms, trying to keep his balance, but ended up bringing down the hand dryer with him. It smashed down onto his head and Spike fell on the floor, out cold. Haruko looked as if she was going to crack up and burst into tears at the same time. She pulled her guitar out of her bag and poked him with it. Spike didn't even twitch. 'Is he even BREATHING?' she asked herself. 'OH DEAR GOD! I-I've killed Spike!' Haruko ran out of the boy's bathroom screaming. "SPIKE IS DEAD!" Meanwhile, Spike sat up on the floor laughing hysterically, and rubbing the large bump formed on his head.  
  
"Are you gonna try out?" said a girl's voice. Naota looked behind him. It was Ninamori. "First time you've spoken to me all year." Naota said matter-of-factly. "Yeah." she sighed. "Your confidence level seems to have risen a lot since 9th grade, you know." she laughed. Naota didn't respond. Ninamori smiled. "What's up with you?" Naota asked. "You're smiling too much." She didn't respond. "I'm gonna try out for Lady Macbeth." she said, still looking at the poster. "You'd make a good Banquo, Naota." Naota just shrugged. "Whatever." She looked him dead in the eyes. "When did we stop being friends, Naota?" Naota averted his eyes and blushed slightly. "W-what do you mean?" "Just what I said." she said. Naota shrugged again and started to bite his lip and play with his shoelaces. He stared straight at the poster on the wall. She put her head on his shoulder. "You're taller than me now. I only come up to your shoulder." she smiled. Naota shifted uncomfortably. "Yeah, I grew a lot, I guess." he laughed nervously. She looked at his face. "Why aren't you looking at me?" He gulped and looked at her. "I-I don't know! I-I-I-I never n-noticed I wasn't!" Naota turned bright red and started to sweat, before he gulped again. "I have to go to class!" he yelped, louder than he wanted to. He started to hurry off to class, but Ninamori grabbed him by his arm. "Don't leave yet." she said, almost pleadingly. He looked the girl in the eyes and gulped yet again. "I have to give you this first." she said. Naota turned neon red while Ninamori gave him a kiss. "Uh.... uh...uh..." he stammered. She let go of his arm. "You can go now, Naota." Naota just stood there in shock. "Uh, right! Bye Ninamori." he stuttered, and ran towards his Science class.  
  
Sorry that the past chapters have been so short! I promise the next one will be longer! ~shadow 


	9. The Hunt Is On

Hiya-cha! Shadow here, and I'm up to chappie number nine. Hopefully this one will be nice and long. Peace out! ^_~ -shadow  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own anything, okay, so just stop bugging me.  
  
Chapter 9 – The Hunt Is On  
  
"Algodystrophy." muttered Naota, his head buried in his words for his Science class. "A-L-G-O-D-Y-S-T-R-O-P-H-Y. A painful local disturbance of growth, particularly due to focal aseptic necrosis of bone and cartilage. Marjoram. M-A-R-J-O-R-A-M. Any of several aromatic Eurasian or Mediterranean plants of the genus Origanum, especially O. majorana or O. vulgare, having small, purplish to white flowers and opposite leaves. God, this is so damn boring!" He was trying his hardest to get his mind off of what happened, but he just couldn't. He'd always figured Ninamori liked him, and he liked her as well, but not in 'that' way. He felt his face burning again. He put it even further into his brother's old vocab book and started to read even louder. "Uh...er, ALGOL! A-G-O-L. A fixed star, in Medusa's head, in the constellation Perseus, remarkable for its periodic variation in brightness...." His studying, if you could call it that, was cut short by his grade's resident womanizer, Rick, and his friends, Kyle, Yasuo, and Toshi. Rick started up. "Hey, hey, Nandaba!" he sneered, yanking the book from the boy's hands. "Why so red?" Naota snatched the book back from Rick. "I don't know..." he began. Toshi snagged the book this time. "SURE YA DO, NANDABA!" he said obnoxiously. "NO, I don't, so give back the book!" he said grabbing for the book. Toshi just tossed it to Kyle. "Heh! Keep away!" Kyle leapt up and grabbed the book before Naota could. "Monkey in the middle!" Kyle tossed it to Yasuo. Naota jumped to catch it, but Yasuo snatched it out of mid-air. "Come on, Nandaba! Can't you do better than that!" he laughed, tossing it to Rick. He just smiled at him. "See, Nandaba, if you want your book back, you gotta tell us watcha did. That's how these things wo-" He was interrupted by the loud roaring of Inari. "NANDABA!!! I KNOW WHAT YOU DID, YOU BASTARD!" All five boys turned and looked at the fuming upperclassman. Naota looked at him confused. That just made Inari even angrier. He was about to go up and punch him, when two other boys popped up from the hallway and grabbed his arms. "Yoshi! Chill! Calm down!" one said to the enraged boy. Inari was ranting. "YOU LITTLE BASTARD! I'LL KICK YOUR SORRY ASS! TRYIN TA GET WIT MY GIRLFRIEND! YOU FUCKIN WOMANIZER! LET ME GO! I'LL KILL 'IM!" "That's what we're afraid of, Inari!" the other boy said. Rick and his friends looked at Naota and grinned. "Mack-daddy-mack!" Kyle laughed. "Pimp-juice! Pimp-juice!" Yasuo piped up. "You rock, man!" Rick said, congratulating him. "Buh-buh-but, its not how it looks! She came onto ME!" "Sure, Nandaba." Toshi said. That statement pushed Inari over the edge. He pulled himself from the two older boys holding him back and charged at Naota. He grabbed him by the collar. "Don't you DARE lie, you little shit!" Inari growled, and poked him in his chest. "Why the hell would Ninamori come on to YOU, huh? Why?" "I don't know!" Naota said defensively. "She used to like me in grade school, and...."Naota flinched. He saw Inari's fist flying towards him. When he didn't feel any pain, he opened one eye cautiously, and saw Yasuo holding the older boy's fist. "Would you CHILL already!" he yelled. "How do you know that Nandaba's lying huh?" Inari twitched. Yasuo saw that his mini- speech was working, and ran with it. "Besides sempai, doesn't he look beaten up enough already? C'mon, let the little wuss go and leave him alone. You know you could probably beat the living shit out of him (hell, almost anyone can, actually, but that's beside the point) so why do you need to prove that. We all already know that, so there's no need in killing him, right?" "Shut up." he hissed and head-butted Yasuo. He fell flat on his back. Rick and the others ran over to their injured comrade. He was out cold. "Yo, Inari! That was not cool!" Kyle said. Inari glared at him and Kyle shrunk back. "ALL OF YOU MIND YOUR OWN FUCKING BUSINESS OR I'LL KICK YOUR ASSES NEXT." he yelled. "Wow, talk about an over-protective boyfriend!" laughed a familiar voice. Inari whipped around and saw the lanky figure of Spike leaning against the doorframe. "Stay out of this, Spiegel. Its none of your business." Inari said. He just chuckled. Right as Inari was about to punch Naota Spike caught his fist. "The problem is, it really is my business." Spike said calmly. Inari dropped Naota and swung at Spike. He easily dodged. "See, I didn't really care too much when you knocked out that brown-haired kid..." Inari swung again but, once again Spike dodged. "...and I can see why your so pissed..." "Shut it, bitch!" Inari yelled. That just made Spike angry. He gave him a hard jab in the stomach, then a spinning kick to his upper back. "You dumass." Spike said to Naota. "Back off the runt, okay Inari, its hazardous to your health." Inari looked at Spike. "You're going soft, Spiegel." Spike just laughed. "Whatever." Spike started to walk off. "It's not like I LIKE you or anything, Nandaba," Spike said at the door. "but I'm dead if you get beaten up, so try to stay out of fights. I don't want to have to pop up and save your sorry ass every time someone throws a punch at you." Naota just nodded. "Uh... right, gotcha."  
  
Haruko sat calmly on the linoleum hallway, next to the boy she just recently knocked unconscious with her durable guitar. "Heh, what a dumb ass." she chuckled darkly. "But, am I REALLY that hot? Heh, of course!" Haruko pushed back her shaggy, pink hair and sighed. "Hookyin' sucks when everyone else is in class." Just then the bell rang. 'Crap! I'm gonna get caught!' she thought. 'Well, the best offense is a good defense...or, wait, is it the other way around? Whatever.' She threw on her backpack and entered the forming crowd, when she heard Ed calling her. "SEMPAI!" Ed gasped, out of breath. "Ed's been trying to get Haruko-sempai all day!" She looked at the tired teen. "Yeah, what for?" "Edward found this, and thought that Haruko-sempai would want to know about it." She handed Haruko a crumpled up flyer. "Is this for the Macbeth play?" Ed nodded. Haruko looked at the flyer with slight interest. "Hmm, I'll have to think about it." Ed looked disappointed. "But, Faye-Faye is making Spike person try out today, and I thought..." Haruko grabbed Ed by the arm and ran towards the sign-up sheet. "I thought about it, and, I'm in!"  
  
"Say kid, do you know a guy named Spike Spiegel? He's a senior at this school"  
  
"Yup, sure do."  
  
"Well, could you do me a big favor?"  
  
"Depends. What's in it for me, Snow White?"  
  
"Hmph. Absolutely nothing, except the, ah, 'joy' of doing a good deed, kid."  
  
"Meh, whatever. Whatcha need?"  
  
"Just tell him his friend is waiting for him outside."  
  
"Well, does this 'friend' have a name."  
  
"Vicious. Tell him Vicious is waiting for him."  
  
Okay, so this ended up being a continuation of the previous chapter...like a part two or whatever....okay, I should've put it in the last chapter, but I didn't! So freakin sue me! (please don't!) But, anyway, this is the only story where I made it up to 9 chapters! I'm proud of myself! Please read and review, I could use the advice. ~shadow  
  
Ps: did you know that an IQ over 130 is considered genius? Hee hee hee! I'm a genious! Wooo-hoooo! Oh...and thanks once again to microfiber shoelaces...you know, maybe I should just hire you as my editor, huh? ^_^ 


	10. Time

Okay then, now I'm up to chapter 10! Now wave ya hands in da air...and wave 'em like ya just don't care! Baby baby! ^_^ ~ shadow  
  
Disclaimer: I blah, blah, blah, Cowboy Bebop and FLCL, blah, blah, blah, never will. The song Ed sings is 'The Real Folk Blues' which, most Bebop fans know, doesn't belong to me either.  
  
Chapter 10 – Time  
  
It was about lunchtime and Spike was stuffing his face. The kid that Vicious was talking to earlier had finally caught up with him, and was delivering the message. "So, you're saying," Spike began. "That this white- haired guy called Vicious needed to talk to me, right?" The kid nodded. "Meh, he can wait 'til after I eat." he sighed, and stuffed a whole hotdog in his mouth.  
  
Ed was sitting outside the school building with her lunch, her eyes bugged out from a sugar high, listening intently to Naota's explanation about how the automatic door worked. Naota, obviously, was just as hyped up as she was. "...Soooooo you push the little button and the door opens up!" He pushed the button and the door slowly swung open. "Ooooooooooo! Aaaaaaaaaahh!" Ed gasped. "Let Edward try!" She ran over to the door, shoving Naota out of the way and into the bushes, and started to push the button. "Open. Close. Open. Close. Open. Close. Open...." Naota sat cross- legged on the ground in awe. "Wooooooooaaaaaaaaaah!!!" He picked a branch out of hair and stuck it in his mouth. Ed looked at Naota. "Ed, did you know your hair is red?" he muttered. She nodded and looked at him closer. "WHAT!" he said loudly. "NAOTA-KUN!" she shrieked. Naota jumped up. "WHAT!" Ed shoved her face in his. "You have a black eye!" Naota looked surprised. "Yeah, I know. Spike gave it to me." "Spike-person did? Oh yeah! Edward remembers! When Haruko-sempai wanted Naota-kun to take naked pictures off Spike-person, Spike-person beat the crap outta Naota-kun!" He just nodded. Then, like a Haruko's guitar, an idea crashed into his head. Naota's eyes lit up and he grinned broadly. "EDWARD!!" he grabbed Ed's arm and dragged her into the building.  
  
Spike walked towards the back gate, where the kid said Vicious was waiting. 'Damn, I am so screwed.' he sighed. 'I only have 200 bucks...shit...' He reached to open the door when – SHMAK! "C'mon Edward! I have a good idea!" Spike saw Naota dragging Ed along by her arm. "GAAH! WHAT THE HELL! WATCH WHERE YOU'RE GOING, NANDABA, YOU FUCKIN DUMASS!!!" he yelled, clutching his bleeding nose.  
  
Naota's first stop was the cafeteria. He ran inside and literally leapt onto a table. "Dude, what the hell!" some senior said. Naota smiled darkly, showing all his teeth. Hayashi at that time was walking by. "Edward, hey!" he smiled. Ed turned around and looked up. "Hayashi-san!!!" she squealed and hugged him. Hayashi shifted uncomfortably. "Uh...what's up with Nandaba?" he asked. Naota meanwhile had a crazed grin. "ATTENTION ALL EATING PEOPLE!!!" he screamed at the top of his lungs. "AVOID THE EGG ROLLS!!! THE CONTAIN POISON TO BE USED TO KILL US ALL!!!" Hayashi's jaw dropped while Ed was laughing hysterically. "MATH IS SPAWN OF THE DEVIL! THE ALIENS! THEY'RE COMING TO GET US!! THEY USE MATH TO FRY OUR INNOCENT YOUNG BRAINS!! YOU'VE BEEN WARNED!!!" Hayashi's jaw almost hit the ground. "Uh, Ed, is he, like, drunk?" Ed grinned blissfully.  
  
"Aishiteta to nageku ni wa. Amari ni mo toki wa sugi te shimatta Mada kokoro no hokorobi o Iyasenumama kaze ga fuiteru..."  
  
"Ed?"  
  
"...Hitotsu no me de asu o mite Hitotsu no me de kinou mitsumeteru Kimi no ai no yurikagode Mo ichido yasurakani nemuretara..."  
  
"Edward?"  
  
"...Kawaita hitomi de dareka na itekure..."  
  
"EDWARD!"  
  
Ed looked up, out of her trance. "Yeah?" Hayashi looked at the child, slightly concerned. "What the hell is the matter with you and Nandaba?" Ed smiled. "Pitcher guy gave me and Naota-kun lots and lots of- Eek! Naota- kun!" At those words, Naota was tossed less than gracefully off the table, and landed face-first on the floor. "Get lost, freak!" the senior yelled. Ed went over to her injured comrade. Naota was unfazed. He grabbed her once again by the arm. "Lets go!" he said, pulling her away again. Hayashi looked at the retreating pair. "Wait! Edward! Lots and lots of WHAT?!!" Ed said something, but it was completely inaudible.  
  
Spike stared absent-mindedly at the sky. It was dark and stormy looking, totally depressing. 'Perfect type of weather...' he sighed. He took his eyes off the ominous skies and fixed them to the white-haired Vicious at the gate. He leaned casually against the gate, smirking slightly, eyes back to the dark clouds above. He sighed quietly. "Spike." the ice-eyed man said frostily. Spike sneered darkly. "Vicious." he muttered. Vicious glared at the young man. His hands slipped casually into his inside pocket. Spike, however, did not notice. "Do you have the money?" he said. Spike's small smile disappeared. "What do you think?" he muttered. "No, I don't." Vicious smiled. "Fine," he sneered. "Then you die." He pulled a gun out of the pocket and pulled the trigger. Spike collapsed to the ground, a large pool of crimson liquid forming under his body.  
  
A loud bang echoed throughout the entire school. Naota, who was in the principal office to relay his message to the entire student body, turned to the source of the sound and looked out the window. Ed meanwhile, was eating away at the last of the giant block of chocolate Inari gave them earlier. "What's the matter, Naota-kun?" she said, noticing that Naota hadn't moved from the window. "Oh shit." he said loudly. He ran over to the phone. "We gotta call an ambulance!" Ed looked at him strangely. "Why?" She walked over to the window, expecting to see some kid with a broken leg or something, but what she saw shocked her. She stood petrified at the window, gazing unbelievably at the bloody body of her brother.  
  
Heh heh heh...cliffie!!! Sorry I took so long to post, but, I refuse to post again until I get 3 reviews on this chapter. Heh, the author can do these things. ^_^ 


	11. Secrets are Best Kept as Such

Okay, sorry, I have had major writer's block here, but, I just had the greatest idea, and, yeah. Oh, and for further reference, until I get out of school, these chapters aren't going to be coming in as much, seeing that I have finals and crap like that. ^_^ Peace out, my peepoles! ~shadow  
  
Chapter 11 – Secrets Are Best Kept as Such  
  
Ed and Naota barreled out of the building, headed for the crowd already forming around the injured Spike. They murmured amongst themselves, but a tremendous thunderclap silenced them, followed by another, then another, then, finally came the rain. Naota felt the slight plip-plopping of the raindrops, sporadic at first, then constant, then heavy. "A perfect setting..." a kid said cynically. "Somebody call an ambulance!" another screamed at the top of his lungs. "I already did." Naota said, dazed. Ed, meanwhile, was fighting through the crowd, trying to get to Spike. The blaring of the ambulance sirens made themselves heard, and for a moment, all attention went to the street. They were still many blocks away. The task at hand was to see how the could stop the bleeding. Spike's eyes opened for a second, slightly glazed over, and very confused. "Spike- person!" Ed said, trying to get him to regain consciousness. He looked at the younger girl. "Damn..." he muttered, barely audible, even to Ed, who by this time was standing right next to him. Spike groaned loudly and tried to sit up, but since the wound was in his side, he fell right back over, doubled up in pain. The sky was a dark as night and the rain was now coming out in torrents. Meanwhile the sirens were getting louder and louder as a lightening bolt lit up the sky, revealing to the people of how much blood painted the ground. It reminded Naota of ketchup; the thick kind that he always put on his French-fries. Ed was trying to ease the older boy's pain, but Spike was gasping for breath, barely even able to breathe. He felt himself slipping in and out of consciousness, barely even hearing Ed's urging for him to keep trying. 'What is that noise..." he thought to himself. The ambulance was now directly in front of the school, and, by this time, even the teachers and principal had come out to see what all the noise was about. The murmuring of the growing crowd got even louder when the ambulance workers pulled him into the van. Ed ran up to one of them. "Edward has to come!" she said, pointing at herself. "Spike-person is Ed's brother and Ed has to be there!" The man nodded, and she hopped in the back.  
  
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::  
  
"Carey..." he began. "Go away. I..." "You WHAT?!!" the girl, Carey, said. She collapsed into tears on his chest. "You don't like me!?!" He started to pull away. "Spike!" Carey called, following him. She grasped onto his arm with a pleading look on her face. "I'm just not ready..." Carey just wrapped her arms around his neck. "Why?" she said, kissing him. "She's dead now." Spike shifted uncomfortably. She continued on. "You were to good for her." She said, making the kiss deeper with every other word. "You didn't need her, Spike, she needed YOU..." Spike shoved her off of him. "Enough." he said, barely suppressing his anger. "How the hell could you say those things? She was your friend." Carey laughed harshly. "She stole you from me, Spike. The day I was going to tell you that I liked you, SHE came along and took you away..." Spike glared at her. "You make me sick." he spat. "You shouldn't speak ill of the dead. Get the hell away from me, you little bitch."  
  
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::  
  
Spike shifted slightly. He lazily opened one eye and looked around. He was in a frighteningly sterile and white hospital room. There was an IV in his arm. "What the hell do they have me drugged up on...dreaming of Carey of all people..." He lay there, bored for a while, until finally his boredom got the better of him. "CAN I GET A DOCTOR IN HERE!" he bellowed, his voice reverberating in the empty hospital hallway. He started fuming. "Here I am, BLEEDING to fuckin' death, and no fuckin' doctors are even around to help me." "Calm down!" said a familiar, bored voice. "They're coming. They said they'd be back in soon, just went to get you your lunch." Spike turned to the source of the voice. Sitting in the chair nearby was a dark-haired boy. Spike amusedly smirked at the teen. "What are you doing here?" Spike asked calmly. "Felt like it." the kid said matter-of factly. "Came by after school." He stood up and calmly wrung out his rain-soaked shirt and hair. "It's pouring out there, by the way. It was a lot worse when they came to pick you up. Ed rode along, but I don't know where she is now...I just got here myself." "What time is it, anyway, Nandaba?" he muttered. Naota shrugged. "Look at the clock. It's around 5:30, I guess." He got up and leaned nonchalantly in the doorway. "I'm going to see if I can find Edward."  
  
Ed was sitting down in the waiting area, talking with the easily recognizable form of detective Black, when Naota found her. Ed turned around and saw him, then ran over to him, drowning him in questions. ".... Is everything okay? Did Naota-kun see him? How'd Naota-kun get in? Is Spike- person awake?" Naota tried to get away, but Ed kept following him, rambling on, talking faster and faster. "Does he need something? Does Naota-kun need something? When will Spike-person get out? Did they-" "ENOUGH!" he shouted. "Yes. Yes. I said I was related. Yes. Yeah, the doctor. No. I don't know, and I neither heard, nor WANTED to hear the last one." Jet stood transfixed at the two teens exchange. "Edward." he called. Ed turned around. "Yes?" "I'll talk to you later, okay."  
  
Okay, I know its short, but, I need to get ready for the play practice. I know it's short, and, just for further reference to those people who harass me about the length **coughorishiicoughcough**, the chapters are GOING to be short, so leave me alone! 


	12. The Lonely Eyed Arsonist, Mamimi

Do I need to say it again? ~shadow  
  
"What are you doing here?" the lavender-haired girl asked. Naota sighed. "It's none of your business." he grunted. Naota pulled away from the girl's tight grasp. "You're not allowed here." she said calmly. Naota rolled his eyes. "Whatever." he snorted and walked away. She began to trail him. He walked along the bridge, wet clothes plastered to him, messy brown hair pasted flat against his face. The girl continued to follow him. He started to walk faster, but she kept up his pace. Finally Naota went into a flat-out run. 'I don't understand why I'm running from her, its not like she can do something to me.' He stopped and caught his breath, only to turn around and see her right behind him. "WHY do you keep following me?!!" he screamed, gasping for breath. She just smiled. Naota looked at her. Her smile looked like it held back so much pain and sorrow. 'Her eyes...they look so...so sad...' he thought to himself. She continued panting, completely out of breath from the chase. "You remind me of someone." she said simply, wiping the sweat and rainwater from her brow. "That's all."  
  
12 - The Lonely-Eyed Arsonist, Samejima Mamimi  
  
(About an hour earlier)  
  
Ed leaned, bored, against the windowsill, watching the rain splat against the glass, while Naota flipped the channels on the TV. Spike groaned audibly. "Pick a channel already, dammit!" he snapped. Naota didn't pay him much mind. He just kept muttering to himself. "When Animals Attack Mob Leaders, nah, How to Make Your Own Zen Garden, nah, Toenail Clippings That Look Like Recently Deceased Celebrities...god, they have nothing better to put on television these days, huh?" Spike groaned even louder. "Give me that!" he said, snatching the remote from Naota's hand. "Let's see what's on the news." The channel flashed from a clipping that freakishly resembled Rod Roddy, to a balding reporter in his mid-thirties. "...and now for local news. The search is still out for the gang leader known as Vicious. Now added to his list of offenses is the attempted murder of a seventeen-year- old senior at a nearby high school." "Spike-person, that's you!" Ed said. "Spike-person is on the news!" Spike nodded. The reporter continued his broadcast. "Also, a fire is raging at a home on Sakurazawa Avenue. Fire fighters are trying to get inside, but the flames are keeping them at bay. They think it may be arson. Over to you, Todd..." Spike shifted uncomfortably. "That's pretty close-by." he muttered. Naota nodded. "Yes, yes! Ed can see the bright orange light." she said eerily. "It coming over from Ed's right and calling for the messenger from hell to come and ring at their doorbell!" Spike and Naota looked at the girl, kind of scared. "Poetic, but confusing." Spike said. Naota nodded again. "Poetic, but scary." he agreed. "When the Reaper knocks, one must answer the door..." she muttered, going back to looking out the window. They both just shuddered and turned back to the TV.  
  
~*~  
  
Naota looked at the girl. She was no doubt very pretty, but she smelled like barbeque and cigarettes, and it was beginning to make him dizzy. He grabbed onto the rail, leaned on it, in order to keep his own balance. She looked at him, slightly concerned. "No one every uses this bridge anymore." the girl said, turning her attention to the rickety old bridge that they were standing on. She sat at the railing, letting her feet dangle off the edge. "I come here to relax. It's peaceful, you know..." Naota nodded. "Why'd they stop using the bridge?" he queried. The girl motioned for him to sit next to her and he did. "Why'd people stop using this bridge?" he repeated. "Fire." she stated simply. She kept her eyes straight ahead. Naota, meanwhile, couldn't keep his eyes off of her. "AHH!!! Look at the bright orange light!" she cooed. "Watch it burn with me. Please? Watch the house burn with me."  
  
~*~  
  
Naota decided to leave the hospital after the news went off. He sighed and slung on his backpack. "I still have a lot of homework to do." he muttered. "So I need to go, before it gets really late." Spike nodded slightly in acknowledgment of his statement, not taking his eyes off the TV. Ed, meanwhile, got up from the window and ran over to Naota. "Edward really appreciates all of the things you did for Ed and Spike-person today." she smiled, pulling Naota into a huge hug. "I-it's no problem..." he gasped. "...b-but...you're...c-cutting off my...a-air supply! C-can't...b-b-breathe!" Ed let go of him, before he started turning colors. "Ed will see you in school tomorrow, okay!" "Alright." Naota said, waving as he left from the hospital building.  
  
~*~  
  
"Isn't this the house on the news?" Naota asked the strange girl. "The one on Sakurazawa Avenue?" The girl nodded, barely able to hide the excitement that she felt, tingling all over her. Fire had an odd reaction with her. She loved to see it, feel it, to be near it. The glowing, licking flames hypnotized her; put her in a trance. It was her version of getting high or tipsy, watching the glowing, orange lights dance around near her. But, there was never enough fire, never enough flames to satisfy her desires, so she created her own; blazing infernos all her own. "It makes me sad when they put them out." she whispered to Naota. "The fire...it's so pretty, but they destroy it every time. They destroy it with their water and sand...." Naota turned once more to the strange girl by his side, this girl he had met barely a half an hour ago. Now they sat side by side with one another, watching one of nature's most destructive forces. "You like fire then, huh?" he chuckled. She nodded. Naota took hold of her wrist, and she winced slightly, in pain. "Is that how you got this?" he asked, brushing a fresh, raw, red burn with his fingers. She winced again and nodded. 'She's very submissive...' Naota thought to himself. "A passive pyromaniac, how...unique...'  
  
~*~  
  
Fire always made Naota nervous, and he was mortified at the sight he saw nearing the site of the burning building. It was an inferno. The hell- fire kept the firefighters from even getting within 100 feet of the house. 'No one could survive those flames.' he thought sadly. Naota shook his head and leaned on the road block next to him. That's when it dawned on him. The quickest way home for him was down that street, which was blocked off because of the fire. His only other way home was down the rickety, old, abandoned bridge alongside the river, which was an extra 5 miles added to his hike home. "DAMMIT!" he screamed, louder than intended. A few people looked at him sympathetically. "I know, boy." An old woman said. "It's hard, I know, but, just have faith that God will help them out unscathed." A nearby young man, he guessed was in his mid-twenties, scoffed at the old woman's comment. "There is no God." he said indignantly. "If there were, he wouldn't have allowed this to happen!" The man broke down in tears at the end of that statement, and Naota decided to get away before he was pulled further into the event.  
  
~*~  
  
Naota stood up. "Where do you go to school at?" he asked. The girl paid him no mind. She was still transfixed by the fire. He continued trying to get her attention. "I go to Akira Maru Private High School. It's cool, because you don't have to wear a uniform there, like your school probably does..." he stammered, his eyes going down to the plaid dress she was wearing. The girl reached into her pocket and pulled out a small cigarette, then turned to look at him. "I'm out of school." she said flatly. "My name is Samejima Mamimi, yours?" She offered him a cigarette, but he declined. "Nandaba Naota...or Naota Nandaba, whichever is your preference." The girl, Mamimi smiled. "You have a cool name, Nandaba Naota." she muttered through the cigarette in her mouth. "How old are you?" He pushed back his rain- soaked hair and smiled slightly. "Fifteen." he said calmly. "I'll be 16 in January." Mamimi looked him amused. "Look kind of small for 15." she laughed. Naota looked at her indignantly. "How old are YOU then, Samejima Mamimi?" he grunted. She just ignored him and took a long drag on her cigarette. Naota's eyes flashed to the glow from it. His jaw dropped in shock and amazement. "How is that possible!?!" he yelled. "It's raining cats and dogs! You can't light up in this kind of weather; the rain would drench the flame!" Mamimi looked at the boy aloofly. "It's magic."  
  
Okay, that's all for chapter 12. Do you like? Huh? Do ya, do ya, do ya? Meh, whatever. I'm just proud that this was longer than some of the other chapters. Love ya, bye! ~ shadow 


	13. Naota's Rival

Okay, so now I am up to chapter 13. What to do now? Well, I don't know how long this story is going to end up being, but I certainly didn't expect it to keep on after the 13th chappie. Hehehe...cool, I've got a long story. Well, not really LONG seeing that all the chapters are pretty short, but, I don't really give a shit. Sorry for the long A/N. I'll shut up now. shadow  
  
13-Naota's Rival  
  
"Welcome to try-outs." roared the drama teacher, Mrs. Mendel. "The play that we will be putting on right before winter vacation is Shakespeare's The Tragedy of Macbeth. Understood?" The students, all fifty of them, nodded their heads in solemn and nervous agreement. Inside of the small mob was Naota, along with Ed, Hayashi, Ninamori, Haruko, Spike and Faye. It was a few weeks after the incident with Spike, and he was, for the most part, better. Haruko clung onto him like she was super-glued to his arm. Faye meanwhile shot her evil glare after evil glare, and Ninamori turned as red as a tomato every time he happened to bump into her. Naota sighed heavily. Ninamori had stopped hitting on him about a week after Spike got shot. Her interest was now on the latter, which didn't really do too much good for Inari's faulty temper. Luckily for Spike, he was a lot stronger than Inari, and was in no danger of getting pummeled, like Naota almost was. Mrs. Mendel was now calling people one by one, for their try- out for the character that they wanted. "Abaku, Goro." The kid, Goro, when up. Naota decided to sit down and watch, next to Ed, who had already found a comfortable spot. "Edward, who is he trying out as?" Ed shrugged. "Ed thinks that he said Fleance." Naota nodded and continued to watch the try- out, waiting patiently for his turn to come.  
  
"Very good, Abaku. Next up is Achel, Kendra."  
  
An older girl stood up and did her piece. Mrs. Mendel nodded with satisfaction.  
  
"Chen, Xiao"  
  
He came up and did what he had to, and then was dismissed to the crowd below.  
  
"Diakaza, Amarante"  
  
The same with her. Mrs. Mendel sighed and waved her offstage once she was done.  
  
"Ericks, Joshua"  
  
"Haruhara, Haruko"  
  
The names just started piling up, one by one, until finally a name that he gave a care about was heard. "Hayashi, Ren." Naota's bored, half-asleep head perked up. He elbowed Ed jokingly. "Let's see how good the jock is at acting." Ed smiled mischievously and nodded.  
  
To both of their surprise Hayashi was a very good actor; the best one, actually, up until she made it up to the M's.  
  
"Miller, Tobias."  
  
The boy called stood up. He was actually fairly handsome; a boyish face with dark green eyes, slightly covered by his shaggy, dark blue hair. He was pretty well toned and around the same height as Naota. "His only downfalls are those braces." Haruko said, leaning on Naota's head, with particular disgust in the last word. "W-when did you get over here!" Naota stammered, shocked. "OOOH! Tall, dark and handsome!" squealed Ed. Both girls started giggling with that. Naota looked at them indignantly, fuming. "I'm handsome!" he snorted. Ed and Haruko looked at each other and burst into fits of laughter. Naota fumed even more. 'He seems like a good actor.' he thought. "Who is he trying out for?" "Macduff." Ed said, once she got herself together. His eyes bugged out. "You're kidding." Naota said. Haruko shook her head. "Takkun, she kids you not."  
  
"Excellent Miller. Next is...Nandaba, Naota."  
  
"Looks like you're up, Takkun!"  
  
"Good luck, Naota-kun!"  
  
"Thanks, I'm gonna need it..."  
  
Naota actually did very well in his rehearsal. After he finished, he was originally going to sit down to talk with Ed some more, but she had left, so he plopped down on the window ledge near the seats. After awhile Naota noticed someone sitting down next to him. "Bout time, Ed." he laughed. "What? Were you and Haruko after that guy?" "I'm not Ed." the person said. Naota looked over to who he thought was Ed, bright crimson. "You're that guy...Miller." The other boy laughed cheerfully, braces glinting in the sunlight. "Call me Tobias. ...uh...Naota, right?" Naota glared at him viciously, but Tobias didn't flinch. "Fine, Tobias." he said venomously. Tobias either didn't notice or didn't care. "There we go." he smiled. "Well, anyway, I came to tell you that you'd make a really cool Macduff. You were good, you know, but you seem to trail off at the end of your lines." Naota looked at him, very insulted and even angrier. "Did I ask you for your advice!?!" he growled. Tobias shrugged. "Meh, just tryin' to help." he sighed, walking off. After a few minutes he decided to lean against the wall next to the stage. "What a grouch." he muttered. "What's shoved up his ass?"  
  
"Tiberosky, Edward" Mrs. Mendel bellowed. Ed's head perked up from the back of the room. "THAT'S MEEEEEEE!" she yelled, barreling down to the stage. "Okay then, Edward, who are you trying out as?" Ed smiled. "Ed wants to be Banquo!" she said. Mrs. Mendel sighed, tired. "Okay then, on with your soliloquy."  
  
About another hour passed after the auditions and before Mrs. Mendel finally came to a decision about the cast. "Here is the cast list." she smiled, waving a hand-written scrap of paper in her hand. "Let's begin at the bottom, shall we?" she droned on for awhile, until she finally made it to the speaking parts. "...Siward will be played by Jacob Kennedy, his son is Xiao Chen. Scottish nobles Angus, Ross, and Lennox will be played by Joshua Ericks, Haruko Haruhara, and Mai Yakima respectively." Haruko groaned, annoyed. "Dammit, I wanted Lady Macbeth." "The porter is Jonathan Lain, the doctor is Goro Abaku, and the nurse is Jenna Santanos. The three murderers are Spike Spiegel, Akira Matsu, and Fredrick Lake. Macduff's son will be played by Makoto Muraki, Lady Macduff is Kendra Achel, and Macduff will be...and this was not an easy decision, mind you, Tobias Miller." Naota's heart dropped when he heard this. 'This isn't right!' he yelled inwardly. 'Damn that Miller guy! DAMN HIM!' Mrs. Mendel went on. "Donaldbain is Joan Samson, Duncan is Takura Muraki, and Malcolm is Naota Nandaba. Banquo will be Edward Tiberosky, Lady Macbeth is Faye Valentine and finally our Macbeth is Ren Hayashi. I hope this is a play well fitted and I hope no one drops out just because they didn't get the part that they wanted."  
  
Not too long after, Naota, Ed, Haruko and Hayashi left for baseball practice. Hayashi decided to give them a ride, but, to their dismay, the entire way to the field he, along with the others, was gloating. Naota groaned audibly, and Hayashi glared at him through his rear-view mirror. "Problem, Nandaba?" Naota glared right back. "I'm so sick of everyone bragging about their parts!" he growled. Haruko looked at him. "Don't get all pissy with us just cuz that cutie, Miller, got the part you wanted." she muttered with an upturned lip. "I AM NOT PISSY!" Naota shouted. As if he didn't hear him, Hayashi spoke up. "Miller, as in Toby Miller?" he asked. Haruko and Ed nodded. Hayashi grinned.  
  
"Cool. That kid joined the team as of yesterday."  
  
Naota's eyes practically popped out of his head.  
  
"WHAT!!!" he shrieked.  
  
"Could you not hear him?" Haruko snorted.  
  
"I can hear just fine! Why the hell'd you let him join, Hayashi!?!"  
  
"He's a good ball player."  
  
"No, he's a pretty-boy and a push-over!"  
  
"No..."  
  
"Is Naota-kun jealous of Toby-chan?"  
  
"T-TOBY-CHAN!?! WHAT IS THE MATTER WITH YOU PEOPLE?"  
  
"Hey Ren...Taaaaaakkuuuuuun is jeeeeaaaaaaalous! Taaaaaakkuuuuuun is jeeeeaaaaaaalous! Taaaaaakkuuuuuun is jeeeeaaaaaaalous!" "Hehehe."  
  
"I am NOT jealous!"  
  
"Sure, Nandaba. You've got those green eyes of jealousy....glowing....eerie... oooooooooo!"  
  
"Wha-"  
  
"Naota-kun is the green-eyed monster of JEALOUSY!"  
  
"G-green eyed monster?"  
  
"Yes, yes! A jealous person turns into the green-eyed monster when they're jealousy gets out of control, and Naota-kun's eyes are glowing brightly!"  
  
"My jealousy is NOT out of control."  
  
"I thought you weren't jealous, Nandaba."  
  
"Oh...uh...what I meant was..."  
  
"GREEN-EYED MONSTER!"  
  
"The glowing...its causing a glare in the mirror! GHAAAAAAAH!"  
  
"uhh..."  
  
"So what makes Miller so much better than him anyway?"  
  
"WHAT THE HELL! HE ISNT BETTER THAN ME!"  
  
"Do I smell rivalry?"  
  
"Shut up, Hayashi. I'm too good for that wuss!"  
  
"Ah, Naota-kun the Green-eyed Monster of Jealousy is getting cocky."  
  
"I am NOT cocky!"  
  
"Well then admit he's your rival and sworn enemy!"  
  
"What?!"  
  
"Do it, Takkun!"  
  
"Yeah, its always nice to have a rival!"  
  
"Ed concurs!"  
  
"Fine. Tobias Miller is my rival and from this day forward my sworn enemy"  
  
"Taaaaaaaaaakuuuuuuuuuun has a riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiival! Taaaaaaaaaakuuuuuuuuuuun has a riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiival!"  
  
"Green-eyed monster of jealousy, arrogance, and war and strife."  
  
"What! I thought that cleared me!"  
  
"Nope, just got you deeper in the hole!"  
  
"WHAT THE FUCK!"  
  
"Puck, luck, fuck a duck!"  
  
"Green-eyed monster! Green eyed monster!"  
  
"The glare from your eyes! Quick, close them or we'll all die!"  
  
"Fie, fie, we'll all die!"  
  
"Fie, what does that mean?"  
  
"?"  
  
"?"  
  
"What the hell are you all smoking!?!"  
  
"I'm not smoking anything...heh; I just inhale the fumes that Haruko lets off when she gets high!"  
  
"...Because I got high, because I got high, because I got hiiiiiiiiii- iiiiiiiigh.... lalalalalalala!"  
  
"Hehehe! Haruko-sempai smokes weed!"  
  
"No I don't!"  
  
"Join us Edward!"  
  
"God, Ed...not you too!"  
  
"Join us!"  
  
"Hayashi you idiot, keep your eyes on the road!"  
  
"Right, sorry."  
  
"Because I got hiiiiii-iiiiiiigh! Lalalalalalala!"  
  
. - Fin.  
  
Okay, so that is the end of chapter 13. Reviews are embraced; flames are accepted...I can use them to cook dinner! By the way, the line with the star there...it's a little Shakespearean humor...that line is from A Midsummer Night's Dream, and 'Because I Got High' is actually one of the funniest songs ever, by a guy named Afro Man (Taki-chan, you know it...'because I got high, because I got high, because I got hiii-iiigh, lalalalalalala! Hehehe...sorry) Bye-bye...and remember...review or flame or whatever...just acknowledge that you've read it. 


	14. Friendly Relations

Okay. Now that we have chapter number 14 I really believe that by now, I don't have to right a disclaimer....but, just in case some big-shot FLCL or Bebop 'person' decides to check out my story here it is: **Disclaimer: I neither own, will own, or ever know someone who owns the anime shows Cowboy Bebop or Furi Kuri (Fooly Cooly/FLCL) THERE! Are you happy...oops...I'm still in 'official' print, aren't I? **Hehheh...uh...on with the story then!  
  
14 – Friendly Relations  
  
Naota leaned lazily against the chain-link fence of the baseball field and fixed his dark blue uniform on him. It was one of the few times that their coach was there; he only seemed to appear during games, and always seemed to enjoy heckling Naota about his bad baseball skills. He sighed again and eyed the blue-haired boy, surrounded by his friends that he worked so hard to earn. Ed, Haruko, and even Ozuwa, who was at least 2 years older, was drooling over him as he 'helpfully' carried their bags and equipment over to the field. "The bastard..." he growled under his breath. "Trying to steal my friends away..." Out of nowhere, Naota felt a hot burst of air on the back of his neck which made the hairs there stand on end. He turned around quickly. "Ma-Mamimi!?! What are you doing here?" he choked out. Mamimi smiled mysterious. She rocked back and forth childishly, fingers laced around the fence. "I heard there was a game today, Nandaba Naota." she cooed gently. "I came to see you play." Naota's face went flushed. "W-well...are you...ah...just gonna s-stand there or are you going to come in and sit down?"  
  
Spike flopped lazily onto the couch at his house. He still couldn't believe that he was talked into acting in that stupid Macbeth play. Even worse, he got a part, a SPEAKING part, and wasn't cut in the beginning as he had hoped. What was worse, his aunts were over, and, since Ed had a stupid baseball game to go to, he was stuck doing all the work while the three witches talked. "SPIKE!" called his mother, as if on cue. "MAKE YOUR AUNTIE CHERYL SOME COFFEE!" He groaned loudly and walked past to the table where his mother and her two other sisters were sitting, chatting away, and into the kitchen. Cheryl, the oldest one, was the one that annoyed Spike the most. For one thing, her voice drove him crazy. She had a high-pitched, nasal voice, which sounded as if she had a cold at all times of the year. She had green hair like him, but it was put in the most horrible perm you could ever imagine. It curled into jagged, ugly locks that framed her gaunt, sunken in face. Another thing that annoyed him about her was how, no matter how old he got, she still imagined that he was still a four-year old boy and pulled him into bone-shattering bear hugs that left him gasping for air whilst she yanked at his "adorable cheeks" as if she were trying to pull them off. The other one, Ester, annoyed him almost as much, but in a totally different way. She would always start talking about how he was a bad role-model for Edward, and a menace to society, and that he needed to be straightened out. "I know a wonderful boot camp for thugs like that boy" she'd always say. Every time she visited it was the same thing. He was ungrateful. He wouldn't do anything with his life. He was a pain-in-the- ass. It drove Spike nuts. "Get me some too, Spike." Ester screamed into the kitchen. "Be polite this time, Spike!" his mother had told him right before they showed up. He walked back into the room where the three women were chatting and stuck his head between his two aunts, a huge and obviously fake grin forced onto his face. Cheryl couldn't pass up the chance. She started yanking viciously at his cheeks while cooing to him about what a handsome young man he turned out to be. Meanwhile, Ester pummeled him with a barrage of insults. "Spike, do you EVER comb your hair? It's like a bird's nest up there. I think you should get a hair-cut, God knows you need one!" "Why get just one cut when I could get them all shaved off?" he said sarcastically. "Don't get smart with me!" she hissed, slapping him in the face. Cheryl, who was still yanking his face, scowled at his sister. "No need to hit the boy, Ester! He was just making a funny. Weren't you, sweetheart?" Spike nodded mechanically, fake grin still there, looking like a demented Chesser cat. "Yes Aunt Cheryl." he muttered. He then stood up, and picked up their plates, looking like a male version of a Stepford wife, he spat out. "What do you ladies want in your coffee? Sugar, cream, or Pepto Bismal?"  
  
Naota sat on the bench as he watched Ed dash around the bases. "Are you going to go up, Naota?" asked the blue-haired boy. Naota was trying his hardest to ignore "Toby" as he requested to be called, and his tries at making friendly conversation. "Eventually." he growled. "When it's my turn." This time it was Toby's turn not to pay him any mind. He was cheering Ed on, screaming like a banshee. "YEAH EDWARD! COME ON! YOU CAN DO IT! WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOT!!!" He was being annoyingly positive. He always was. Naota scowled grumpily as Ed ran over to him. "Did Naota-kun see Ed?" she asked, all out of breath. "Ed made a home run! Didja see!?!" Naota ignored her, his glare fixed on Toby. The boy came over and gave Ed a huge hug, and they both went off talking at an unused edge of the field.  
  
Spike sat crammed in between his two, irritating aunts, glaring viciously at a picture of his mother who was putting him through this hell on earth. "Entertain them, honey, while I go to the market." she had said. Now, about an hour later, she still wasn't back, and he was stuck listening to Ester's harsh criticisms and Cheryl asking him about his friends, did he want candy, did he still go to amusement parks, etc. "...Look at you, boy! You're as thin as a stick! And hardly any muscle to boot! Why, if Bradley were here, he'd show you what a boy your age is supposed to look like!" Bradley was Ester's 19-year-old son, the only relative he could honestly say was a dumb blonde. It was a miracle that he even passed high school. "Brad is a gorilla." he said harshly. "He's got the body and brains of one. I wouldn't be surprised if the principal was bribed into passing him through. Probably something else though." He glanced at his aunt; he knew she knew what he meant. She went completely red at his comment and slapped him hard across the face. "How DARE you!" she screamed. "How dare you even SUGGEST such a lewd thing! That just proves that that innocent little girl shouldn't be anywhere near you! You'll tarnish her mind!" All of a sudden the bulk of Spike's dislike switched from Cheryl to Ester. He switched his attention to Cheryl, who, once again, took up he favorite hobby: trying to pull Spike's cheeks off. "I am just AMAZED by how tall you've gotten!" Tug. "You are just the sweetest young man these days!" Tug. "Are you blushing? Those cheeks are so rosy and red!" Tug, tug, tug. He shook her from his face. "No, dammit, my cheeks are red because you've been yanking at them for the past two hours!" he yelled. He stood up from the couch, body rigid from frustration, anger and most of all, trying desperately to CONTROL that frustration and anger. "You," he yelled at the top of his lungs, pointing at Cheryl. "Stop touching me! Stop hugging me! Stop cuddling me! I am NOT a little boy and I do NOT have the PATIENCE to deal with you anymore!" Cheryl looked at him, stunned and kind of hurt. Spike didn't pay her any mind though. He continued on his rant, by going on to the next one. "You, Ester, are a fucking nymphomaniac! You heard me! You, lady, are a whore! A slut! A bimbo! A hooker! A tramp! I know what you've been doing! You slept with her husband! I SAW you! On Thanksgiving, you slept with her husband!" Spike pointed madly at Cheryl. "You heard me right! And then, you have the nerve, the audacity even, to criticize my every move, thought, and action! You are scum! A FUCKING WHORE!" Spike took a deep breath and sighed heavily. "Now that that's out of my system, I'm going to bed. Hope you two can straighten things out. G'night!" 


End file.
